Coining Segregation In Schools

This continued pattern of shifting to less and less visible forms of racism in education has continued to today, where subtle, but no less hurtful, forms of segregation are beginning to appear. Since the 1991 Supreme Court case Board of Education v. Dowell, court-ordered desegregation has come to a close, prompting a slow but steady increase in school segregation. Coined “resegregation” by various studies, overall evidence demonstrates that once released from court order, schools simply do not maintain the level of integration and diversity that they did previously. Much of this reversion directly correlates to the increased residential segregation that accompanied the so-called “white flight” of white families out of inner cities and into …show more content…
This process is accomplished via academic tracking, which results in separated classrooms and lower test scores for black students. Multiple studies, including one by the National Bureau of Economic Research, have found that in integrated schools “white students are more likely to participate in “high track” courses… limiting the classroom-level exposure of blacks to whites.” In this case, “high track” courses refers to AP, IB, and honors classes available at different schools. Furthermore, “white students are more likely to take honors and AP classes in cities with more integrated schools and neighborhoods,” meaning that the more integrated a school population, the higher the degree of classroom segregation. This study demonstrates that although schools as a whole may be racially diverse, their individual classrooms are not. By limiting the exposure between students of different races, schools continue to foster a culture of separation, leading to tangibly low scores in test performances of black students. One academic study from the Stanford Center for Education Policy Analysis found that on the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress, Virginia’s black students on average scored 228.67, significantly lower than their white students’ average score of 251.17. More important than …show more content…
The state’s history of Massive Resistance has embedded itself into the modern-day system, making it difficult to approach solutions to the growth of resegregation in its schools. Furthermore, the impact of these anti-integration movements extends far beyond the underlying racial tension and disenfranchisement of black students. Many modern Virginia schools, now released from court-order, have opted to continue the use of the “freedom of choice” assignment plans, the same ones that were historically conceived for the sole purpose of preventing integration. Overall, evidence such as this disconcerting trend demonstrates that the true influence of the Massive Resistance movement on Virginia’s schools cannot be understated. Persistent action against racism in education remains the most important step to pursue. Otherwise, the risks of an undervalued, undereducated black workforce will only grow. Research demonstrates that by eliminating segregation in schools, black students continue to reap benefits long after they leave the classroom. Not only are black students from integrated schools less likely to be impoverished as adults, they are healthier and live longer. Imagine the abounding progress that could be made in closing not only test achievement gaps, but unemployment, wage, and socioeconomic gaps with the implementation of a more